OK…Hypothetical but serious question…

Brit Couple living in Spain, no UK bank account, no UK address…

Wife visits UK twice a year for periods of up to 3 months each, staying with family members.

Wife is wanting to supplement joint income by working some of the time she is in the UK on a temporary basis.

Getting the work isn’t too much of a problem, as most employers will accept her family members address.

Problem arises when the subject of salary payment comes up…she is happy to pay UK Tax and NI but employers seem to have a problem making payment into a Spanish bank account. Can’t see why this should be a problem because hubby has UK sterling pensions paid into a Spanish account…..

Can’t open a British bank account because no proof of UK address.

Has anyone any knowledge of a work-around this problem?

Could on-line banking through someone like ING a solution?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

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Were does she stay when she is in the UK.can she open a bog standard B/Soc account using that UK address.

I understand the paranoia about money laundering etc but I fail to understand why it is so easy for non residents to open a Spanish bank account but seemingly impossible for a non resident Brit to open an account in the UK?

Any bankers out there care to explain?

Take note all potential Expats DON’T close your UK bank account.

That’s a really good question Rob!  Why is there no such thing as a ‘non residents acct’ in UK banking?

Meantime could your hypothetical friend open an account linked to a Spanish one, eg a BHH acct here you could possibly open a Halifax acct in the UK with lower standards of proof of id/address (I don’t know if that’s the case as we did it the other way around, and jumped through usual UK hoops whilst resident there).

Or could she be paid by cheque, or could she be paid into the account of a family member in the UK?

BDP x

Hi,

All British Financial Institutions use the UK Electoral Roll as a first point of establishing identity and address.
Essentially if your name doesn’t appear on the roll, forget it!

I am awaiting a call from the Gib office of a UK building society that appears to accept applications from UK persons resident in Spain, using the UK documentation with Spanish utility bills, Padron certificates and / or Residencia certificates as proof of address.

Fingers crossed this will provide a solution.

Well I never knew that - OK but surely that contravenes EU law, I thought we had freedom to move around without being resident and have bank accounts to service properties utilities etc etc. In Spain I think you have to have an NIE for an account but other than that (OK you need to show a passport) then you can open an account.

Frankly I think the UK system is ridiculous.

Can’t you have a BBVA bank account in both Spain and the UK, there both linked as I understand, but I never looked into it.

When I returned to the UK for a year before we all moved back I had an account opened at the address I was staying, which was my parents home.

You could look into Barclays Non UK resident account.

http://www.res-non-dom.barclays.com/open-non-resident-bank-account/